kitten
1-13-12, 1:30pm
I really enjoy the nuts and bolts of my job. It's just all the extraneous stuff around it that kills me! As in:
The pointless meetings where everyone stares and drools, while the same people yak about the same things that never go anywhere.
The worship of mediocrity, and extravagant praise for people who do the bare minimum: "Thanks to Sheila for updating the calendar today. Wow, that was really great, Sheila, you're doing a fabulous job!"
The managerial doubletalk: "I have an open door, but if you come to me with an idea, I can't do anything about it."
The weird absence of a center - there's no central nervous system, no intelligence at the heart of the organization, because management has checked out. In a recent meeting: "Here are some graphs our consultant sent me. I'm not really sure what they mean. Feel free to look or not look at these."
Paranoid directives from on high NOT to communicate: Email threats like, "Just reply to me alone! Do not use Reply All!"
And when I first got here three years ago, I was mainly struck by the sheer social weirdness of my fellow employees. I had been used to being the sole misfit (introvert, reader, liked classical music) in the scores of low-level clerical jobs I'd had. But here was something different. Everyone was a freak! I felt better, actually. It was nice not to be the weirdest one for a change. But aspects of it drove me insane.
We had this bizarre in-house Friendly Stalker. Somebody would place single flowers - tulips, carnations, whatever - on women's keyboards. It was only ever the younger women employees who got this treatment. I figured everyone knew who it was, so I was surprised to ask around and discover that wasn't the case. Either that or they weren't telling me. Anyway, as the incidents continued, I began to get upset about it. To the Flower Fairy Guy (or Girl), the behavior was harmless, and no doubt he or she thought they were actually doing something positive to brighten people's day. But it was very off-key, especially for me, because it brought to mind the stuff a stalker I had for a long time used to do. He'd break into my car and leave things. The sense of violation used to drive me insane. I HATED being gifted unwanted items from that sick asshat, and there was nothing I could do about it. (I did go to court and got a restraining order, which had no effect and was locally unenforceable. The guy only stopped stalking me when I got married.)
Anyway - sorry this is so long - and the other reason the Friendly Stalker was disturbing, was that he seemed to be singling out the young women for his special attentions. Now I just said the behavior offended me because I considered it stalking. And it probably sounds like I was also miffed because it was sexist as well - some people weren't getting stalked! Quel horreur! LOL The whole thing just burned me up.
So personnel changed, and it's been a few years. The Friendly Stalker seemed to have left the company. So a few weeks ago, one of our employees who was working from home announced she was leaving. We still get emails from her, though, so I'm not sure what her status is. Nobody ever tells us anything, so what else is new.
Anyway, her mailbox is right below mine, and I see that it's getting stuffed. She works offsite, but people just keep jamming her mail in that box like she has any way of getting it. I sent her a note and told her I would pack up her items (I knew there was a Christmas gift card in there for one thing, wanted to make sure she got it before the holiday was over), and have the receptionist mail them.
So she thanked me, and as far as I know she got the items. But every day, somebody puts more stuff in her mailbox. It's not my job to be the mailbox item caretaker, and I'm getting a little miffed. The weird thing about this is that somebody keeps putting Almond Rocas in her box. I had already packed up a bunch of them for her last time. This time, when I saw those little pink turds in her box AGAIN, I just grabbed them and ate them myself! To hell with it! And I had a sick feeling: what if the Friendly Stalker is back? Julie is a cute 20-something who would have been a prime target for the guy back in the day. But I'd thought he was gone with the wind. OMG.
And I realize this should all be, I dunno, FUNNY or something. And hey, I'm getting free Rocas out of it. But I am FURIOUS over this mailbox thing!
Am I just jealous of Julie, that she gets special visits from the Roca Fairy and I don't? WTF???
So I'm contemplating sending out an all-staff email. I hate the phenom of the all-staff snarky email. They're usually terrible, and horribly self-revealing of the sender in an unflattering way. A recent one from a co-worker requested that all employees be VERY quiet in the area of his cubicle, no laughing or loud talking! Because he's SO FRICKIN BUSY. Like, who the hell isn't? I read that and thought, "Thank God I wasn't the author of that smug piece of snark! What a narcissistic creep! I'm so much classier than that!"
But I'm actually contemplating this, so I know I'm losing it and taking the first steps to the clocktower. So it'll make me look bad, but - what do you think of my sending an all-staff email asking people to stop stuffing Julie's box with crap when she isn't around to pick it up? I'm the one it falls to, after all, to mail it to her. And, as far as I can tell, she doesn't even work here anymore.
sigh
If I were a happy person, this little stuff wouldn't bother me, right?
Getting a drink after work tonight STAT :)
The pointless meetings where everyone stares and drools, while the same people yak about the same things that never go anywhere.
The worship of mediocrity, and extravagant praise for people who do the bare minimum: "Thanks to Sheila for updating the calendar today. Wow, that was really great, Sheila, you're doing a fabulous job!"
The managerial doubletalk: "I have an open door, but if you come to me with an idea, I can't do anything about it."
The weird absence of a center - there's no central nervous system, no intelligence at the heart of the organization, because management has checked out. In a recent meeting: "Here are some graphs our consultant sent me. I'm not really sure what they mean. Feel free to look or not look at these."
Paranoid directives from on high NOT to communicate: Email threats like, "Just reply to me alone! Do not use Reply All!"
And when I first got here three years ago, I was mainly struck by the sheer social weirdness of my fellow employees. I had been used to being the sole misfit (introvert, reader, liked classical music) in the scores of low-level clerical jobs I'd had. But here was something different. Everyone was a freak! I felt better, actually. It was nice not to be the weirdest one for a change. But aspects of it drove me insane.
We had this bizarre in-house Friendly Stalker. Somebody would place single flowers - tulips, carnations, whatever - on women's keyboards. It was only ever the younger women employees who got this treatment. I figured everyone knew who it was, so I was surprised to ask around and discover that wasn't the case. Either that or they weren't telling me. Anyway, as the incidents continued, I began to get upset about it. To the Flower Fairy Guy (or Girl), the behavior was harmless, and no doubt he or she thought they were actually doing something positive to brighten people's day. But it was very off-key, especially for me, because it brought to mind the stuff a stalker I had for a long time used to do. He'd break into my car and leave things. The sense of violation used to drive me insane. I HATED being gifted unwanted items from that sick asshat, and there was nothing I could do about it. (I did go to court and got a restraining order, which had no effect and was locally unenforceable. The guy only stopped stalking me when I got married.)
Anyway - sorry this is so long - and the other reason the Friendly Stalker was disturbing, was that he seemed to be singling out the young women for his special attentions. Now I just said the behavior offended me because I considered it stalking. And it probably sounds like I was also miffed because it was sexist as well - some people weren't getting stalked! Quel horreur! LOL The whole thing just burned me up.
So personnel changed, and it's been a few years. The Friendly Stalker seemed to have left the company. So a few weeks ago, one of our employees who was working from home announced she was leaving. We still get emails from her, though, so I'm not sure what her status is. Nobody ever tells us anything, so what else is new.
Anyway, her mailbox is right below mine, and I see that it's getting stuffed. She works offsite, but people just keep jamming her mail in that box like she has any way of getting it. I sent her a note and told her I would pack up her items (I knew there was a Christmas gift card in there for one thing, wanted to make sure she got it before the holiday was over), and have the receptionist mail them.
So she thanked me, and as far as I know she got the items. But every day, somebody puts more stuff in her mailbox. It's not my job to be the mailbox item caretaker, and I'm getting a little miffed. The weird thing about this is that somebody keeps putting Almond Rocas in her box. I had already packed up a bunch of them for her last time. This time, when I saw those little pink turds in her box AGAIN, I just grabbed them and ate them myself! To hell with it! And I had a sick feeling: what if the Friendly Stalker is back? Julie is a cute 20-something who would have been a prime target for the guy back in the day. But I'd thought he was gone with the wind. OMG.
And I realize this should all be, I dunno, FUNNY or something. And hey, I'm getting free Rocas out of it. But I am FURIOUS over this mailbox thing!
Am I just jealous of Julie, that she gets special visits from the Roca Fairy and I don't? WTF???
So I'm contemplating sending out an all-staff email. I hate the phenom of the all-staff snarky email. They're usually terrible, and horribly self-revealing of the sender in an unflattering way. A recent one from a co-worker requested that all employees be VERY quiet in the area of his cubicle, no laughing or loud talking! Because he's SO FRICKIN BUSY. Like, who the hell isn't? I read that and thought, "Thank God I wasn't the author of that smug piece of snark! What a narcissistic creep! I'm so much classier than that!"
But I'm actually contemplating this, so I know I'm losing it and taking the first steps to the clocktower. So it'll make me look bad, but - what do you think of my sending an all-staff email asking people to stop stuffing Julie's box with crap when she isn't around to pick it up? I'm the one it falls to, after all, to mail it to her. And, as far as I can tell, she doesn't even work here anymore.
sigh
If I were a happy person, this little stuff wouldn't bother me, right?
Getting a drink after work tonight STAT :)